CREJ - Multifamily Properties Quarterly - February 2017
With Colorado’s population growth rate far exceeding the national average, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, limited housing will continue to be an issue statewide. The multifamily market is trying to meet the demand from an increase in population, but the ability to get multifamily projects completed remains as complicated as ever. Additionally, the architecture, engineering and construction industry is witnessing a shift toward green building aimed at sustainability, adding to the complexity of these projects. Fortunately, advances in technology within the AEC industry have allowed for an evolution in building materials and are creating numerous advantages for companies on the cutting edge. As the demand for environmentally sensitive construction gains popularity, traditional practices, systems and building materials need to be altered in order to eliminate waste that can account for about one-half of a project’s total cost. As a result, innovative companies have begun to develop building materials that are both sustainable and deliver a performance equal or superior to traditional materials like wood and concrete. This building materials evolution is being witnessed across the entire multiunit market, including in student housing, multifamily apartment communities and senior living projects. • Student housing. Student housing projects typically feature compact schedules as students need to move in on a specific date by the beginning of the school year. As a result, time is a crucial factor in the student housing sector and utilizing materials that reduce a project’s duration without sacrificing quality is ideal. Technological progress has allowed building materials like light-gauge and cold-formed steel to become optimal for commercial projects crunched for time. Cold-formed steel is not a new building material, but advances in technology have provided speed of assembly previously unmatched in multiunit projects. Standardization of materials is key to simplifying and compressing the time period from design to project completion. However, it’s important to remember that standardization refers to the product process and not to the projects themselves. Standardized processes still yield diverse and unique final products, but the process cuts both time and budget. Steel framing is dimensionally stable and can be manufactured and installed to very tight tolerances. Investing in advanced design and planning software enables more precise overall planning and execution early in the design process, which reduces the time it takes to complete a project before ground is broken. Colorado Christian University just used this technology in its four-story, 90,000-square-foot residence hall in Lakewood. The student housing structure exhibits the advantages that standardized materials bring to the multifamily building sector by delivering an institutional quality structure in one-third the expected install time. We worked on this project and were able to provide real-time estimates of cost-savings for implementing this technology. Standardized light-gauge steel structural systems lend themselves well to off-site prefabrication and panelization, which further reduces project durations. This technique does not require as many skilled laborers and drastically reduces the need for rework – one of the main reasons for delayed schedules. Additionally, aggressively phasing in trade engineers can further shorten overall construction durations by months and this framing system doesn’t need time to cure, allowing finishing crews to begin work on a newly completed level right away instead of waiting for the entire structure to be finished. • Apartment communities. Another multifamily building sector witnessing the building materials evolution is market-rate apartments. Apartment projects are responsible for a great deal of energy use, resource waste and greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, according to a study released by the Environmental Protection Agency, construction and demolition debris accounted for more than 66 percent of the United States’ total waste generated in 2014. As the demand for more sustainable building options increases, green construction is becoming more desirable and, ultimately, more profitable than ever before. Industry records show that upfront investment in green construction practices makes properties more valuable in the long run. Additionally, green building projects typically decrease operation costs by 13.6 percent for new construction and 8.5 percent for existing building projects, according to the U.S. Green Building Council. Increasingly, project owners are discovering the benefits of recycled steel – the most energy-efficient building material to produce. Advances in light-gauge and cold-rolled steel systems are creating a sustainability aspect previously unwitnessed in multifamily projects. Standardized and preassembled framing components create a faster and cleaner construction project as on-site waste is greatly reduced and disruption to the surrounding environment and neighborhood is minimized. Preassembled framing components are precision manufactured to meet exact specifications and dimensions, allowing for predictability unattainable in other structures that are cut and built on site. Additionally, preassembled components provide the flexibility to build higher, adding stories without breaking the budget. We recently completed a 12-story, 372-unit apartment building in Denver’s Uptown neighborhood that features more than 450,000 sf of total building area. By utilizing the Prescient framing system, the Alexan Uptown project earned nine points toward LEED certification. Without the predictability, flexibility and sustainability that advances in panelized light-gauge and cold-rolled steel systems create, a multifamily project of this scale would not have been possible. • Senior living. The senior living sector also is witnessing the numerous benefits that advances in light-gauge and cold-rolled steel systems produce. Senior living projects that use these advanced structural systems tend to be safer, more durable, more dimensionally stable, mold resistant, termite-proof, better for the environment, longer lasting and less expensive to complete than alternative building materials like wood or concrete. Additionally, steel is much lighter than concrete and, unlike wood, is noncombustible, saving the developer and builder money on insurance. Often, senior-living communities consist of multiple care facilities within the same structure and, as a result, these projects require a unique design. The five-story, 250,000-sf MorningStar Senior Living project in Lone Tree is a prime example of how building materials can deliver on the specific needs of this building category as the elements of various care facilities are all located within a single structure. In the end, the AEC industry has been slow to change, but technological advances are quickly changing that notion and reshaping the industry. Safety risks, uncertainties, project duration and on-site revisions are reduced; installation reliability and outcome predictability are increased; and the project’s overall quality improves as panelized light-gauge and cold-rolled steel systems advance. Companies, owners and contractors that are ready to embrace change and implement innovation and technology will bring our industry to an increased level of productivity, while improving project quality and mitigating risk and cost for every stakeholder involved in the design, development or construction process.